Obukwelu mixes brawn and brains

After finishing up an impressive football career as a two-way lineman at BC High School, the Brockton native will play at Harvard next fall.

Mark Ducharme

It seems like only yesterday that Nnamdi Obukwelu was playing football for the first time at Boston College High School.

Obukwelu of Brockton, only began playing football as a freshman at his mother's urging and is now a senior at BC High where he has enjoyed a solid career that is quickly winding down.

The 6-foot-1, 258-pound Obukwelu, who is a captain for the Eagles, is getting ready to face Catholic Memorial in a winner-take-all game for the Catholic Central League title on Thursday with the winner getting the opportunity to play Everett in next week's Div. 1 playoffs.

“It has kind of flown by,” said Obukwelu. “I have learned a lot in the last three years. I am kind of sad to see it come to an end, but I am looking forward to moving on to college.

“My sophomore year was my toughest. There was a learning curve because it was hard playing against guys that were much bigger. My junior year, it was better; I had more of a leadership role.”

“Their leadership (BC High’s three captains: Obukwelu, Scituate’s Kyle Ewanouski and Quincy’s Billy Kiley) is outstanding,” said BC High coach John Bartlett, who told the Patriot Ledger on Monday. Bartlett, the school’s first-year coach, led these same players to an undefeated season on their freshman team.

“All three are vocal leaders, but they also lead by example,” he continued. “They are simply great role models, in their work ethic and their attitude, and that has a great effect on the younger players. In fact, I feel that they have gone beyond the expectations of captains.

“To them, it’s just not a title. With those leadership skills, it makes them more like assistant coaches. The coaches try to motivate the kids, get the kids going, but just as importantly, the three captains, as peers, also motivate the kids, and constantly offer encouragement to everybody on the team.’’

Barlett says the captains display a maturity beyond their years, and represent — quite well — the spirit and mission of BC High: to graduate well-rounded young men.

The game with Catholic Memorial excites Obukwelu. He feels it will help sharpen his team if they win for the playoffs.

“This game with Catholic Memorial will be a lot of fun,” said Obukwelu. “CM has not had the mystique, but they will be a tough team to play.”

“It will help playing a Catholic Memorial, it will help to get us ready for the game with Everett and hopefully go on to play at Gillette Stadium (in the Div. 1 Super Bowl).”

As for college for Obukwelu, he will attend Harvard University and is honored by the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school.

“In my family,” Obukwelu said, “it is academics first and football falls in after that. It feels good to be attending Harvard.”

His goal is to major in finance and work on Wall Street.

Obukwelu didn’t start playing football until his freshman year of high school. The reason for the late start was he was too big for youth football growing up.

“It was my mother that encouraged me to go out for football,” said Obukwelu. “It was academics first and football fell in after that, and that is why I went to BC High.”

He has learned in his four years that a team can go as far their linemen take them.

“The quarterbacks, running backs and receivers get the headlines,” said Obukwelu. “The guys in the trenches are the key. We are the ones who the offense leans on to move the ball. The linemen are the most important position of the game.”

In his senior year, Obukwelu started playing on both sides of the ball and he has used his own knowledge as an offensive lineman to help him play on the defensive side of the ball.

“At the beginning of the year,” said Obukwelu. “It took a lot of conditioning to get ready, but after a couple of games I got use to it.

“Playing offense helps you defensively because I have noticed that a lot of the offensive linemen have the same tendencies that I do.”

Asked what he will remember most about his high school career, Obukwelu says that is the people he has been his teammates and coaches.

“I can remember the two-a-day practices,” said Obukwelu. “It woud be 95 degrees and we had guys that pushed you to play on the scout team and there were times when they did not want to be there.”

Obukwelu’s time in high school has flown by as has his ascent to being one of the better players around.

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